At least 82 people died in a hospital fire Saturday night in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Sunday. Another 110 people were injured in the blaze at Ibn al-Khatib Hospital, according to ministry spokesman Major General Khaled Al-Muhanna. The fire started after oxygen tanks exploded, two health officials at the hospital told CNN. This video seems to show the moment panic struck among staff
Metrolinx has posted a video of one hour and 44 minutes in length of the April 15 virtual public meeting to discuss the recently announced Ontario Line Maintenance and Service Facility to be built in Thorncliffe Park. The meeting begins at about 30 minutes into the video. Some 500 people were online for the meeting. Also Mertrolinx summary
Two winning tickets were sold in Ontario for Friday night’s $10 million Lotto Max jackpot. Each is worth $5 million. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Apr. 27 will be an estimated $10 million.
Premier Ford has apologized for the government’s decision to authorize, however briefly, stopping people and vehicles randomly to see if pandemic legislation was being followed.
Leaside Memorial Gardens is reporting on its Facebook page Thursday that George Turrell has died.
Toronto has vaccinated close to a million people as of Wednesday night. A release Thursday says 977,888 C-19 vaccine doses have been administered. Meantime, the AstraZeneca vaccine is said by epidemiologist Isaac Bogoch to be “flying off the shelves” at Ontario pharmacies since being offered to people 40 and over starting Tuesday. And the City continues to target neighbourhoods where the virus has flourished. Below is a report from the clinic in Downsview.
The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate target on hold as it raises its outlook for economic growth this year. The key rate remains at 0.25 percent where it has held steady for more than a year. The decision came as the Bank of Canada raised its prediction for economic growth this year to 6.5 percent, up from an earlier forecast of 4.0 percent.
Wednesday’s snow and cold weather is an unfortunate blast from the not-too-distant past. But many streets looked pretty. The high is expected to be 4º with Friday promising a sweltering 16º
Police say four burglars pried open a door of the Galerie De Bellefeuille on Avenue Rd south of Davenport Rd. Monday and stole works said to be worth as much as $265,000. Police have released photos of the pieces and security images of the four wanted persons seen at a distance. They were last seen leaving the area heading north in a grey Toyota Sienna minivan with no license plates.
It’s Tuesday and there is anger in the UK and across Europe over an out-of-nowhere elite league for certain soccer teams. Players, soccer leaders, politicians and even royalty have voiced their concerns over the Super League project, a plan to break 12 teams away from the European club system.
CN and CP slug it out for Kansas City Southern
Canadian National Railway Co. has offered to buy US railway Kansas City Southern in a cash-and-stock bid valued at $33.7 billion US. The offer of $325 a share plus agreeing to take over $3.8 billion worth of KCS’s debt tops a proposal made by Canadian Pacific Railway for KCS last month, one that offered $275 a share for a total price tag of $25 billion. The move would bring ports and rail lines in the United States, Mexico and Canada together under one network to create the most far-reaching transportation networks in North America.
Rogers wireless back is up but what a mess
Rogers has restored wireless service nationally after a day-long outage. It says the problem was a recent Ericsson software update that affected a piece of equipment in the central part of its wireless network. Yes, updates are always enough to send savvy users screaming in fear of the wonderful improvements in store.
The renewed proposal from SmartCentres REIT for property known as Lake Leaside seems to show that the big box dream is not yet dead. Plans put forward more than a decade ago for the property envisioned large stores such a Walmart on the site. The onslaught of the Amazon revolution seemed to put frost on that business plan. But SmartCentres latest proposal calls for a “commercial centre comprising a series of new buildings ranging in size from 616 square metres up to 18,059 square metres with a total gross floor area of 20,184 square metres. The proposal includes a total of 403 vehicle and 138 bicycle parking spaces.” It was submitted to the City late in February.
Canadian Tire store
The proposal names Canadian Tire Corp as a tenant. It store would be approximately 185,000 sqft in size, along with three standalone retail buildings ranging between approximately 6,500-9,300 sqft. The submission states: “The proposed Canadian Tire store includes a mezzanine racking storage system. This racking storage system is specific to Canadian Tire and allows for an efficient warehousing solution within an urban retail store setting.”
Vaughan St, Parkhurst Blvd would be extended to Wicksteed
The draft plan of subdivision would extend little known Vaughan St and Parkhurst Blvd to connect with Wicksteed Avenue. Right now the streets are stubs off Vanderhoof Ave and Laird Dr. Parkhurst will perhaps take a sharp turn to the right and run behind the boarded-up ruins of the former Four Seasons Auto Repair on the corner of Laird and Wicksteed. That property is owned separately and continues its unsightly wait for redevelopment. Just when that might happen is unknown. Perhaps this century (or not).
